Philippines: challenge to stop discrimination
On Philippine president Gloria Arroyo's visit to the UK, our partner PIPLinks challenged her to act on racial discrimination against indigenous people
The UK-based support group presented the president with a letter which drew attention to new findings from the UN committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
This high-level committee, made up of experts from 18 countries, has raised critical concerns about how well indigenous peoples’ rights are respected in the Philippines.
Indigenous Peoples Links (PIPLinks) contributed evidence from indigenous people to a ‘shadow report’ for the committee to counter Philippine government claims that there is no racial discrimination in the Philippines.
Mining threatens rights
Andy Whitmore from PIPLinks said, "We await a response from the government, but in the meantime are concerned that the President prioritised meeting mining companies in London, when their activities are the source of so many of the ongoing concerns raised by indigenous peoples in the Philippines."
The government must tell the truth. We have been waiting for so long. The government’s report that there are no indigenous peoples’ discrimination is purely a lie.
In its final report, the committee highlighted the case of the Subanon people who have lived on the west of the island of Mindanao for hundreds of years. Canadian company TVI Pacific began operating a new open-cast mine in this area in 2002.
Since then, local people have reported that their farmland has been bulldozed by the company without consent, warning or compensation. In addition, some report that they have been threatened or violently forced to leave their homes.
The farmland is on Mount Canatuan, an area considered sacred by local Subanon indigenous people. Part of this mountain has now been destroyed by large-scale mining.
As part of our Unearth Justice campaign, our partners are helping indigenous communities exercise their constitutional right to give or withhold “free, prior and informed consent” for mining on their lands, as well as helping them relocate and re-build their livelihoods.
CAFOD policy analyst Sonya Maldar explains, "On paper, the Philippines gives its 12 million indigenous people extensive legal protection, including rights to approve or reject plans for any large-scale developments, such as mining, on their ancestral lands. But legislation is not being enforced and there are countless examples of how these rights are being violated in practice."
Further recommendations from the UN committee included ensuring that Indigenous Peoples are protected in situations of armed conflict and that independent and impartial investigations are conducted into all allegations of human rights violations. The committee asked the government to report back in one year on progress.
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